Interesting, but I have some questions. Of the four, the Emad delivered a touch more bottom end. Did you use the small or the large dampening ring? First two sounded a touch thinner than the Aquarian or Evans. All examples sounded especially flat. Almost no rich tone in the recording, with very little low end. Did you record these samples as shown in the picture? (i.e. with a D112 placed in the reso port hole) If so, that would go some way towards explaining the results. Also, do you have any dampening in the drum? It sounds like it, & I think I can see something white inside the drum in your picture. I could be mistaken on that though.

Interesting, but I have some questions. Of the four, the Emad delivered a touch more bottom end. Did you use the small or the large dampening ring? First two sounded a touch thinner than the Aquarian or Evans. All examples sounded especially flat. Almost no rich tone in the recording, with very little low end. Did you record these samples as shown in the picture? (i.e. with a D112 placed in the reso port hole) If so, that would go some way towards explaining the results. Also, do you have any dampening in the drum? It sounds like it, & I think I can see something white inside the drum in your picture. I could be mistaken on that though.

Hi Andy (if I recall correctly?),

Those are some fair questions. I used the small dampening ring for the EMAD2, no dampening on the other heads.
There is an Evans EQ pad inside the drum touching the resonant head slightly on all recordings because the room still sounds a bit boomy to me, despite some acoustic foam baffles set up in it.

The recordings were done as shown in the picture, so the AKG mic in the reso hole. Usually I get good (well, for me good enough) recordings with it, using an EMAD2 until now. I know different mics and micing techniques will produce different results.
But I'm just an amateur and my simple home studio is no pro studio by any means. I did the recordings for myself to hear how different heads sound, keeping the rest of the setup the same.

Cheers, Eric

Edit: the main reason for posting this was that I also like to have an idea how a drumhead will sound compared to other ones before spending cash on it. Some heads cost around EUR 50 (or 65 USD), kind of a waste of money to find out afterward it doesn't produce the sound you're looking for.

not putting your efforts down at all Eric. What you're doing is great, but I do think you'd get a lot more bottom end if you pull the mic back from the head (say around 4"- 6", & tighten the reso head a bit.

Thanks for the info on the Emad ring. In my recent trials, I do like the Aquarian Superkick II, but I think the internal foam ring is a bit too big, & that comes across to me on your recordings. The Emad is letting go just that little bit more.

not putting your efforts down at all Eric. What you're doing is great, but I do think you'd get a lot more bottom end if you pull the mic back from the head (say around 4"- 6", & tighten the reso head a bit.

Thanks for the info on the Emad ring. In my recent trials, I do like the Aquarian Superkick II, but I think the internal foam ring is a bit too big, & that comes across to me on your recordings. The Emad is letting go just that little bit more.

Best regards, Andy :)

Hey Andy,

Thanks for your feedback and absolutely no offense taken :-)
I appreciate useful pointers, learning more about drums, recording and music in general.
I'll certainly give that tip about the mic placement and reso head a try, thanks!

I agree the internal ring (I think it's felt?) of the Aquarian could be a bit smaller. With the EMAD you can choose which ring you want to use (or none at all).

Frankly, I still prefer my setup: the mic just inside the ported resonant head. To me that gives the deepest and fullest sound.
I also found out that I shouldn't settle with just laying the mic inside the bass drum at a gig when a stand is missing.